Unabomber Bombs. Heartland Cuts and Runs from Disastrous Billboards.

New York Times:

Drivers moving along Chicago’s inbound Eisenhower Expressway on Friday may have been surprised to see Ted Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, staring at them from a massive billboard. “I still believe in global warming. Do you?” the billboard read in large maroon letters. Just below was the Web address www.heartland.org.

Hours later, the digital billboard was gone. It seems that the ad campaign, sponsored by the conservative Heartland Institute, had bombed.

“We know that our billboard angered and disappointed many of Heartland’s friends and supporters, but we hope they understand what we were trying to do with this experiment,” the institute said late Friday afternoon said in a statement. “We do not apologize for running the ad, and we will continue to experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate.”

The reason the signs came down is of course, that they were not having the desired effect. Instead of painting those who understand and trust science as lunatics, the signs reminded people of just how far into the looney tune realm the climate denial fringe  has strayed.  Heartland has now made Ted Kaczinsky  as much their mascot as Joe Camel.

In explaining their poster campaign, Heartland generously allowed that “not all global warming alarmists are murderers or tyrants.”  One wonders just what percentage of the National Academy of Science deniers believe ARE murderers and tyrants?

Probably what caused Heartland to panic was concern about their upcoming semiannual denialist freakshow, coming up in a few weeks.  It appears there were signals that some of the few remaining high profile attendees willing to show up and be identified as supporters of the big oil/big tobacco agenda were getting ready to jump ship.

WashPost:  

Now the Heartland Institute has suffered its first major defection in the way of GOP public officials: GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, a leading climate “skeptic,” will be pulling out of an upcoming conference sponsored by the group where he was supposed to speak, his spokesperson confirms to me.

The billboards, which were first reported by the UK Guardian, show the Unabomber or Manson saying: ”I still believe in Global Warming. Do you?” Future billboards may include Bin Laden, reported the Guardian, which referred to the billboards as “possibly one of the most ill-judged poster campaigns in the history of ill-judged poster campaigns.”

The group has a conference set for later this month, and one of the featured speakers is Sensenbrenner. I asked Sensenbrenner’s spokesperson, Amanda Infield, if he’s still participating. She emails:

Congressman Sensenbrenner will not participate in the upcoming Climate Change Conference if the Heartland Institute decides to continue this ad campaign. We have contacted the Heartland Institute and voiced these same concerns to them.

Another day, another Tea Party tempest. I’m tired. More tomorrow.

30 thoughts on “Unabomber Bombs. Heartland Cuts and Runs from Disastrous Billboards.”


  1. Heartland Institute: open mouth, insert foot, shoot foot. Quite possibly the biggest own-goal I’ve ever seen. They got lucky and managed to recover from one scandal, only to create an even bigger scandal!

    Reply

    1. there are a buttload of these floating around on line. I think seeing that must have been part of their dim realization that all was not well.

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  3. These people- the right wing, the GOP (one in the same) are thugs, but cowards. It takes very little to intimidate them. In any case they are becoming increasingly desperate to hold on to their power as Plutocrats. It makes me really wonder if they will make this country into a total Police state. Scary but really possible.

    Reply

  4. If we made a billboard and with the same line, but the faces thousands of climate scientists (thumbnails all on one sign as a collage), and logos of science organizations and put it next to the highway, would anyone notice.

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    1. How about one with a picture of a thunderhead that asks, “Seen anything unusual lately?”

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  5. It looks like an act of complete desperation to me. With more and more people being directly effected by extreme weather events, like the tornado outbreak in winter, all the warm temp records set in March, continued droughts and floods, etc…I think they are losing their base.
    I see these billboards as a good sign that their movement is on it’s last legs.
    That is my hope anyway.

    Reply
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  7. its the same thinking as depicting obama with a hitler moustache or as witch doctor , crass, ignorant and offensive.

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  8. This is the sort of right wing drivel we’re used to. Get a conservative well and truly steamed some night and ask him about climate change and many will concede the planet is warming up, but those scientists, they’re all liberals with an agenda. Many in the Heartland insitute therefore DO so no difference between the Unabomber and Al Gore. Course they normally have the sense not to say such lunacy in public….so I conclude that the leadership of the HI were either smoking something or drunk when they approved this!

    And of course with an election coming up in the US, we expect a lot of grade A BS about FEMA death camps, Birth cert’s and how Obama’s going to ban/Tax everything/eat your children.

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      1. i dont know, i just found the article very bizarre..i look for the weird and extreme…imagine the oceans being divided up into rectangular zones almost like an allotment..

        Reply

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